Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by sackofmugs 2206 days ago
Just to clarify, are you talking about a usb-c to usb-a cable, or a usb-c to usb-c cable? I think the usb-c to usb-a cables are just temporary while we get to usb-c everything, and so are not implemented that well. With usb-c to usb-c cables, I've never had a problem with power or charging.
2 comments
zenexer 2206 days ago
I’ve amassed quite a collection of charging-only Type-C to Type-C cables over the years. People usually don’t realize they have such cables because they typically come alongside a charger, so people only ever attempt to charge devices with them.

Grab a USB-C to USB-C cable that came with a phone or similar device and was intended for use with a USB-PD charger and give it a test. You might get USB 2.0 speeds if you’re lucky, but you’re unlikely to see anything beyond that.

link
ender341341 2206 days ago
nope, there are plenty of power only usb-c to usb-c cables.

Even more fun, many of them don't properly list what power they can handle and fry your device or catch fire if you put to much through them!

link
Dylan16807 2206 days ago
> Even more fun, many of them don't properly list what power they can handle and fry your device or catch fire if you put to much through them!

That doesn't make sense. Any cable will be capable of many more volts than USB will ever put through it. How is anything going to get fried?

I suppose a cable could get too warm, but lying about capacity only takes you from 3 to 5 amps. That little bit extra should never be enough to cause a fire. And if it can't even handle 3, then the problem was not that it was lying about capacity. It also costs extra money to lie about being a 5 amp cable since that requires a chip.

link
sp332 2206 days ago
The only case I know of where a USB-C cable fried something, it was horribly broken. https://www.engadget.com/2016-02-03-benson-leung-chromebook-...
link
AdrianB1 2206 days ago
Volts don't melt power cables, amps do. Regular cables do 2.5 to 3A, the 5A cables are relatively rare and more expensive.
link
Dylan16807 2206 days ago
Yes, I know.

I mentioned volts for frying, and I mentioned amps for fire.

And I don't think either failure can be caused by a cable failing to properly list what it can handle. Do you?

link
ender341341 2206 days ago
It's crappy devices all around trying to implement an insanely complex spec.

The Nintendo Switch can get fried in dock mode (and Nintendo usually has pretty top notch QA/abuse testing outside of joysticks)

Here's a report of an A to C cable on fire from Anker (another pretty well regarded manufacturer) https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/7j3k38/anker_usbc_...

link
Dylan16807 2206 days ago
Are you talking about the thing where sending 9 volts on a data pin fries the switch? I don't blame the spec or Nintendo for that one.

That cable is more of a complexity problem, but it wasn't because it misrepresented capabilities or anything. They put in a chip which didn't reset the connection when you unplugged one end. I don't know if that's really a spec problem, though.

link